AND ANIMAL LIFE. 109 



and at the latter end of this period haemoptysis 

 is not at all uncommon. The former is the con- 

 sequence of a still remaining vascularity of those 

 parts of the body which are most external, and 

 is occasioned by the first disturbance which takes 

 place in the system from a change in the mode 

 of circulation, as indicated by a fulness of the 

 head, and its dependent symptoms, such as dizzi- 

 ness, imperfect vision, troublesome or frightful 

 dreams ; and is also frequently accompanied with 

 irritation of the trachea and bronchia, as proved 

 by an occasional cough. 



CVI. Epistaxis is generally produced by ex- 

 ercise, coughing, speaking, violent passion, and 

 other similar causes. The system being ex- 

 cited by these, a quantity of blood greater than 

 what is natural is determined to the surface of 

 the body, and moreover must be evacuated for the 

 safety or well-being of the animal economy ; and 

 as there is no other mucous membrane of the body 

 equally vascular, and bearing the same relation to 

 this extended surface, the blood flows from the deli- 

 cate net-like membrane of the nostrils. 



CVII. It is not my intention to enforce the 

 correctness of this opinion by enumerating the 

 different kinds of practice found most beneficial 

 in its cure. This will occupy our consideration in 

 a subsequent treatise ; but I may observe, that 

 the means employed, such as bleeding, application 

 of cold and internal refrigerants, are precisely 



